The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has tightened its watch over importers and customs brokers to weed out unscrupulous traders and combat smuggling.
In a statement on Wednesday, the BOC said its account management office last year inspected the physical offices and facilities of importers applying for accreditation “to ensure the legitimacy of their application and avoid dummy accounts that may be used for smuggling and illegal activities.”
In 2021, the BOC visited 1,168 import facilities. Nearly a fourth or 279 were “nonexistent,” the BOC said, as it denied the importers’ applications.
The BOC also revoked the accreditation of 690 importers and 220 customs brokers last year, due to various violations of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
The BOC said it continuously monitored the compliance of importers and brokers despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
The country’s second-biggest tax collection agency said its account management office conducted audits under a “no-contact policy” due to the new normal wrought by COVID-19.
Specifically, the BOC tapped an online accreditation system as well as its customer care centers when transacting with importers and customs brokers.
As such, the BOC in 2021 accredited 16,053 active or regular import firms, as well as 483 nonregular, or once-a-year importers.
The BOC has also transacted with 2,345 licensed customs brokers last year.
The agency collected P645.8 billion in import duties and other taxes in 2021, exceeding not only its target but also its prepandemic tax take.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero had attributed last year’s above-goal collection to “improved valuation, intensified enforcement operations against illegal importations, improved compliance by traders to customs laws, the gradual improvement of importation volume, and the government’s effort in ensuring unhampered movement of goods domestically and internationally considering the pandemic situation.”
The BOC had been tasked to collect a bigger P671.1 billion in tax revenues this year, which Guerrero told the Inquirer was attainable for as long as the economy grows by the projected 7-9 percent and increase imports by a tenth in 2022.